The contents of this blog are matters of opinion formed over one more visits. There has been some artistry applied and metaphors and similes should not necessarily be taken literally. All meals are independently paid for - the author has no conflicts of interest to disclose.
Emperor’s Garden Cream Puffs. A Chinatown institution. The lines are long and the service is abrupt, but these hot, custard filled little balls are worth it.
Last night during our wait in the queue we were treated to a kid trying to master the kickflip, while his friends rated him on his form. His friend, no matter what, wouldn’t give him a 9/10 – a score reserved for the greats. At one stage he told him “you’re no Tony Hawk,” which is true.
Rose Borek was Rose Boring. We had a selection of pretty samey boreks, including the Spinach and Feta Cheese Borek ($9 – better as a glozeme), Mince Meat Borek ($10 – better as a gozeleme) and the Potato Borek ($9 – better as a pizza). I don’t want you to think that I am a hater of boreks. Indeed, some of my favourite friends are borek. I just didn’t think that these really excited me. I must say however that the creamy cheesy sauce that accompanied each borek was very nice.
The Pogaca (middle- $4) was very similar to a cheese breadtop from breadtop. It was ok in this regard. Similarly the Sweet Borek (left – $5) reminded me of a Chinese sesame paste pastry. I liked it, but not for its borek qualities. The lamb roll (right – $15) I did not enjoy.
Overall I would not recommend coming here. Perhaps if you are a big fan of borek you will not find it as disappointing as I did. The sweet borek is a standout however seems to have some strong Chinese vibes, which is probably why I enjoyed it.
Wow! So yummy! I’ve been a banh mi fanatic ever since I was a young child living in Burwood. My grandparents would occasionally treat me to some pork roll on the way home from school, from the Vietnamese bakery across the road from the park.
Vina Bakehouse in Royal Randwick brings me back to memories of those early banh mi days, as well as memories of further banh mi days from Wentworthville mall.
The bread is soft rather than crunchy, which I prefer as it doesn’t cut your mouth. The fillings are standard and the quantity of butter and pate is generous. The flavours come together perfectly to make an exemplary pork roll.
What’s not generous however is the price, and at $7.50 for a standard pork roll this is one of the most expensive banh mi I’ve ever had, especially from a legit Vietnamese bakery.
I would not hesitate to recommend Vina Bakehouse and I think it is likely that it will become a common haunt for me.
Vina BakehouseRandwick Royal Randwick Shopping Centre, 73 Belmore Rd, Randwick NSW 2031 (02) 9399 6760
My partner has been trying to get me to go to Kurtosh for a good six months. I was never keen as I’ve had a lot of baked goods in my day, but one day we found ourselves at Kurtosh after we travelled to Albee’s Kitchen only to find it closed.
Kurtosh’s slab cakes are cut from the slab and sold by weight, which is handy because it means you can get a few small pieces of different cakes to try at any time. These were reasonably good but not memorable enough for me to even remember what they were. I think the white one was tiramisu.
The smashed potato roll ($3.80) was good.
One thing that was memorable about Kurtosh was the extra-slow extra-poor service. There were two people working in the store that day, and I think we definitely got the less capable one (although it may have just been an off day for her). It felt pretty unusual being asked to repeat our order 3 times while we were the only people being served.
I think that if you work in Randwick you will eventually find your way to Kurtosh at some point. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but if you’ve just done a 12.5 hour night and the person who’s serving you has too it has the potential to get pretty dicey.
Kürtősh Randwick 20B/20C St Pauls St, Randwick NSW 2031 (02) 9314 5353
Chillilime Matraville bills itself as an Aussie take on the Vietnamese banh mi. After trying 3 of their offerings after a night shift I think it’s safe to say that they should’ve let what was good just be.
In general I found their rolls very bready. The bread was thick and not light like a banh mi baguette should be, and it was neither crispy nor soft, just hard. The rolls were also very overpriced, and I paid a steep $37.49 delivered for 3 rolls.
The #2 five spice pork roll was $9.50 at base, with an extra $0.10 each to add tomato, onion, and sriracha chilli sauce, as if the first two weren’t already essential components of a banh mi. The mild flavours unfortunately got lost in the bread, which you will find is a recurring theme of food from Chillilime.
The #4 meatball roll with tomato, beetroot, carrot, chilli, coriander, onion and cucumber came to a staggering $10.20. Each of these listed ingredients attracted a $0.10 surcharge on top of the $9.50 base price.
The #10 breakfast roll was $9.50. The bacon, egg, tomato, cheese & mayo made this roll the tastiest of the bunch, but again it was let down by the sheer volume and blandness of the bread.
It would seem that the “Aussie twist” that Chillilime advertises is just being overpriced and overbreaded. Do yourself a favour and get your next banh mi from one of the many many better alternatives in the area. Hong Ha is just a couple of suburbs down.
